And I’m Baaaccckkkk

HOLY GEE WHIZ SHOOT

It’s taken me almost a FULL YEAR to have the energy to put “pen to paper” and re-start up this silly little blog of mine…I’ve been wanting to share the (mis)adventures of Mama Lee, but have been so physically and mentally drained that any second I have to myself, I like to turn my brain off and  try to recharge whatever battery power I have left. Or stress eat…mmmmm, stress eating – everything tastes so good! Even better than when you’re pregnant…drroooolllll

So anyway, my last post “Kim Kardashian’s Butt” was from last MAY, so apologies to those readers who may have enjoyed reading my pregnancy rants. And lucky you, my new mama rants are even better! Most of you, I’m sure, have stumbled upon this blog via my Facebook page – so most of you also know the struggles I’ve had as a new mom. Being a new mom in itself is hard, but throw in postpartum depression and on some days, everyday tasks become daunting mountains to climb.

Don’t get me wrong though, I do love being a mom and I love our baby with all my heart and all my soul and my husband is my rock and a perfect hands on daddy. The Ez has been a true blessing and he completes our little family of three…he is the physical manifestation of our love, it’s incredible and I cannot imagine our lives without him. I hate that it’s so hard sometimes to separate the PPD from everything else and I don’t think other people really understand how hard dealing with postpartum depression has been, I mean, for crying out loud, I’ve threatened to kill myself (several times), my poor dear husband. Sadly society has given PPD a cute little label “the baby blues” and it sounds like, oh, she has a cold – it’ll go away…total bullshit (but more on this later!)

ANYWAY, with that, welcome back! Get ready to read the real truth about all the joys and woes of parenthood!

less than 1 week old

Our first family photo session

me and the Ez

The Next Frontier…Trimester #2

Week 14: the most notable difference during week 14 was that my appetite…it returned!! And it was glorious, laaaaaaa! *Play triumphant sounding orchestral piece*

Food tasted like it should, if not better…I had a hesitant welcome home party for my appetite at Benihana’s – might as well have licked the plate(s) clean – and after that, I slowly re-introduced food items that I could not even stand the sight of, starting with eggs for breakfast. Yum! And then Korean food! Double yum! Welcome Home, Appetite…this self-professed foodie/fattie had been (im)patiently waiting for your return. And luckily, I only threw up twice during week 14

Sadly, Thai food may be a lost cause forever – didn’t enjoy it at all. I could only manage to choke down a few bites, but something about it just…blech. Also, I still didn’t have much of a palate for meat, poultry or pork, but not a huge loss there. Contrarily, the possible permanent death of pad thai is a true travesty. Let’s take a moment of silence in its honor…

Week 15: So, as luck would have it, week 15 brought on, once again, the love/hate relationship with food…actually there was a lot more hate as the nausea returned (again, in the form of all day nausea). The thing that was worse this round of nausea was that I can’t seem to throw up and have only done so once (at a restaurant, blech!) so I have to ride out the nausea for the most part 😦

Food aversions made eating difficult…mostly because they just developed as soon as it was in my mouth…I couldn’t predict what I would
not be able to eat. If I ate one thing that didn’t agree with the palate, the rest of my meal was ruined.

For example, because of the previous success at Benihana’s, I wanted to go again for a family dinner. Unfortunately the only thing I liked this time was their salad as the fried rice completely ruined my appetite, awesome! Meat is still a huge no no, heartburn accompanies the nausea, and I burp up bile more often than I would like. Luckily, I was still enjoying Korean food though, so whew! 🙂

Week 16: That would be this week! Food and I are still on shaky grounds…even water tastes weird. I am, however, really loving vegetables and pineapples and Diet Coke. Korean food tastes better than ever, but is almost always followed by heartburn and the most disgusting and stinkiest burps of my life.

That sonofabitch nausea persists and I am sooooo tired all the time. Headaches are pretty much a daily occurrence and I finally caved and started taking Tylenol because sometimes they’re so bad, I can’t function. My boobs have lost their sex appeal for me, I feel like I belong in a National Geographic, but I think the hubby is still enjoying them so that’s all that matters.

[On a side note: my dog is experiencing her first heat cycle and I’ve noticed that her nipples have gotten larger…I also heard my husband say (as he was rubbing her belly), “Mabel, your nipples have gotten bigger just like your Mommy’s!” I couldn’t help but laugh…darn, so he HAS noticed!]

On the upside, I have felt the baby move AND kick. Apparently if you poke your belly around weeks 14/15, the baby will respond by moving. So I wanted to see if I could feel the movement and I did!! And one time s/he kicked back! It was such a weird feeling! But awesome…so awesome in fact that I like to dedicate a little bit of time during the day to lay down and poke my belly to see how Baby will respond. S/he seems to favor the left side.

Also, went to the doctor today and she confirmed that Baby is extremely active…she always has a hard time detecting the heartbeat bc s/he moves so much. We may have our hands full come June 17! Also, due to the nausea and vomiting in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, my net weight gain has been only 1 pound…I’m sure that will change in the next few weeks! I am looking forward to having a baby belly…maybe once the belly starts protruding more, I’ll stop feeling fat and more pregnant instead.

As the second trimester looms ahead, I am both excited and apprehensive. The MAIN thing I want is to be able to enjoy food and indulge in some weird cravings…will this ever happen for me? Week 14 was such a tease! *Le grand sigh* Oh and I can’t wait to find out the sex of our baby…which we will know by the end of this month!! Stay tuned!

Hello world!

I’m pregnant… 11 weeks and 4 days pregnant to be exact. And we made our baby announcement via Facebook yesterday! (See above) I know it’s a little shy of the “safe zone” of announcing pregnancy, but we had our 12ish week check up the other day, followed by early testing (to check for chromosomal abnormalities like Downs and Trisomy 18) and Baby Lee seems to be healthy. So I thought it was okay to share with everyone…and you know, it’s not official until it’s on Facebook! I was bursting at the seams to tell people, but I managed to keep it to my family and a close group of friends.

Once I figure out how to do it, I’ll have to post the video of us telling my family.

Some of the top questions I’ve been asked since telling my friends and family that we’re expecting:

1. Were you trying? Not really, but not entirely not trying – if you know what I mean, hahaha…but come on, do you really expect a newlywed couple to be using protection?? Marriage allows us to finally delve into the carnal desires with which God blessed us and not feel guilty about it afterwards. It’s time to finally let your hair down and get it on, baby. And get it on again. I mean, we’re lucky we even made it three months into marital bliss without getting pregnant. We for sure should’ve had a honeymoon baby! (p.s. I don’t believe in female birth control – a discussion in it’s own, but I think it is harmful to women’s bodies no matter what doctors say)

2. Are you ready? Heck yea, I think my calling in life is to be a mommy. I adore little children. If I love other people’s kids so much, I can only imagine how I will feel when I am finally holding my own child. However, I think my brain is slow to catch up with my heart. I have had several dreams where I show up to school or work and I am totally unprepared. One dream, I went into my class to take a test and was horrified to see that it was in Russian! I couldn’t remember anything and I was panicking to the point of tears. As of late, those dreams are less frequent, so I think my brain is finally coming to terms.

3. How do you feel? I tell people it’s been hard, but hard is not even close to how I actually feel. In all honesty, the first trimester has been horrendous. Between the fatigue, the constant nausea, and the expelling of bodily fluids out of all ends, it sucks. I’m not sure if I’m a little worse off than other pregnant ladies or if the majority of pregnant women feel this way, but it has not been easy. DAMN YOU, EVE AND YOUR DECEPTIVE WAYS. I will post more about this later in more detail.

So yes, I have started a blog to chronicle my next 6 months of pregnancy. And perhaps continue with the joys and woes of child rearing and explosive diapers. I will have pictures, videos, and much more in the days to come! Thanks for tuning in! And don’t forget to watch The Neighbors on Wednesdays @ 7:30/8:30PM ET! And vote for them here for Best New Comedy!